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OSHA fact 14

On-site health hazard evaluations the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health conducts at workplaces — in response to requests for help — are way down. NIOSH averaged 36 a year between 2010 and 2013. Compare that with 186 a year in the 1990s and 282 a year in the 1980s. That means fewer opportunities for the agency to find previously unknown dangers. NIOSH doesn’t get as many requests as it once did, but that decline isn’t nearly as steep as the decrease in hazard reviews conducted on site. In some cases, NIOSH can handle a request without visiting the workplace. But funding is also a factor: The number of staff investigators is down about 20 percent since the 1990s. Image from the Noun Project/ Adreine.